Curiosity Killed the Cat
by Maxian
Summary: Reese wants to be the Champion not a Nurse Joy like her mother and aunts. She wants to experience a hero's tale where she'd save the day, defeat the villain, and ride off into the sunset with her love interest. A hero's tale is a bit more complicated than that though, especially hers. If there's one thing that she needs to remember, it's that curiosity killed the cat.


**Curiosity Killed the Cat**

 **Chapter 1: Introducing the Hero**

Ever since I was born, I have always wanted to be a pokemon trainer and win the Pokemon League. It was every kid's dream at one point. Sometimes, the kid would pursue and go on a journey. Others would forget about their dream and get interested in something else like being a coordinator or scientist. In my case, I am forced to let go of my dream.

My parents wanted me to have a stable life, one where I didn't go around the world with a team of pokemon. They think it's too dangerous going out on a journey but they do have a valid reason for thinking so. My father used to work at the Silph Company in Kanto but quit that job when I was eleven years old. The reason for that is because he was working the same day Team Rocket took over the building four years ago. He was a hostage, all tied up in a tight room with his co workers. Fortunately, a trainer named Red stopped them and freed all of the hostages. Now my parents are scared and overprotective that people like Team Rocket are out there. Because of that incident, I can't do many things like: go on a journey, go out with friends, get in a relationship, and basically anything a normal fifteen year old would usually do. It didn't help that the evil organization revived last year, but luckily, they were defeated for the second time by another trainer named Gold, the Champion of Johto.

My mother wanted me to be a nurse like her, she was the Nurse Joy of Cherrygrove City. My father wanted me to work in a manufactory like him. He worked at the Heart Enterprise, a new manufacturer that rivals both Silph and Devon, but it's located in Goldenrod City. Both of their jobs made bank, I don't mean to brag, but I'm pretty rich. The house I lived in was the nicest in the city, my backyard was basically the whole beach. This meant that my parents expect me to get a high paying job in the future as well. Going on a pokemon journey would not do the trick.

If there is one thing I want to experience, it would have to be a hero's tale. The hero always manages to save the day and beat the villain. Somewhere along the way, the hero meets a potential love interest or maybe even have a love triangle. Of course, they don't get together until the very end when everything wraps up. That was something I'd want to be in. My parents say I fantasize a bit too much but I blame them for reading me a bunch of stories when I was a little girl. There was even proof that a tale like that could happen. Take Champion Gold for example, he came from a small and quaint town and had only one simple dream, to win the Pokemon League. Along the way, evil is rising again a.k.a Team Rocket. Gold manages to defeat them and then continues on his journey to fulfill his dream. He ends up winning the Pokemon League and manages to even have a pretty girlfriend. This proves that a hero's tale could happen!

"Reese, you need to stop daydreaming!" my teacher scolded. "I hope you're ready to return your focus back to the lecture rather than your fantasies."  
My face became red from embarrassment. My classmates, who were all my cousins, snickered at me and my teacher had a disappointed look on her face. This happened to me all the time, I was always known to daydream during class for quite a long time. I sheepishly apologized and tried to focus on what my teacher was teaching.

I was in my family's school, called Joy's Academy, a place where those of the Joy family bloodline would learn how to nurse pokemon. It's located in Violet City, right next to Earl's Pokemon Academy which was a place I'd rather be instead. A school was needed for us since our family line was huge, I'm pretty sure I have more than twenty aunts from different regions. The school is for girls ages ten to fifteen, once school is done, then we volunteer and help pokemon centers. I'm already fifteen and I definitely could not continue on with this nursing career. I _had_ to get out somehow.

The Joy family had one thing in common, everyone born from a Joy will have a daughter with the same traits: strawberry pink hair, pale skin, and blue eyes. Those traits were dominant and will always stay dominant with the exception of a few people who got different traits from their dads. Those that got different traits really stood out like a sore thumb including me. I stood out with my chocolate brown hair, brown eyes and tanned skin. My hair was kept short and to my shoulders while my cousins would keep it long. They all started having womanly features while I still had the body of a twelve year old, prepubescent girl.

"Okay class," my teacher began. "We're going to learn a thing or two about battling."

That word "battling" certainly got my attention. Unfortunately, we learned the basics about type advantages and disadvantages. _Everyone_ knew about that. My teacher then took out several glass cases with a great number of poke balls inside. All of us students were in awe. She then had took out a piece of paper with a list on it, giving certain poke balls to certain people. We all took out the pokemon in the poke balls. When I released it, it revealed a tiny blue bird pokemon with cotton wings. It was a Swablu!

"These are all your companions now. Think of it as a gift since it is all your last year." she said with a smile on her face.

The Swablu sang in delight and flew on top of the desk. It had a disgusted look on it's face when it realized that there was dirt on it's wings. The blue bird pokemon ruffled it's wings, shaking the dirt off. After that, it flew to me and nestled in my arms. The teacher was scanning all the pokemon using her pokedex, revealing what gender each one was.

" _Swablu, the Cotton Bird Pokemon. They love people and like to sit on their heads. If they spot anything dirty, they will wipe and polish it with their cottony wings. This Swablu is a female and is Level 5._ " the pokedex said.

"I'm Reese, the girl who will become the Champion of Johto!" I introduced myself to my new starter. "Well, if my parents would even let me. Anyway, I think I'll name you Arabella. It's a classy name for a classy girl like you!"

She chirped in happiness, causing me to smile. I knew we were definitely going to be the best of friends.

School finally came to an end and my dad picked me up on his Pidgeot. We arrived at our house and ate dinner as a family. I showed them my starter, Arabella, they were pleased that it was not a dangerous pokemon. They were still uneasy that I got a pokemon though since they knew that I was passionate about becoming Champion. Having a starter would only encourage me even more to train and battle. My parents told me about what they did at work. My dad started talking about the future designs and ideas for poke balls and my mom talked about how Trainer Joey was still being careless with his Rattata.

* * *

A month has gone by since I received Arabella. I've been secretly training her in my backyard whenever my both of my parents were not home. From what I noticed, she levelled up a tad bit slow. It would have been easier if I did battles with trainers but I wouldn't want to risk battling someone or going out in the wild to battle pokemon. I would try and convince my parents about me becoming a trainer on a daily basis, but to little avail. They'd give me the same reasons like how it's dangerous and there could be people like Team Rocket out there. Those reasons did make sense but even if that did happen, I would have Arabella and even more pokemon to be by my side and protect me. I was already fifteen, old enough and smart enough to go on a journey, but my parents didn't understand that.

"Reese, your grades are pretty low." my dad tsked in disappointment as he looked through my report card.

"It's really hard to learn a topic you're not interested in." I grumbled. He looked up at me with a frown on his face.

"Maybe you should try harder then."

That comment got me fuming for the rest of the morning. School made me even more irritated, so I ditched the last hour of class. I strolled down the streets of Violet City with Arabella nestled on top of my head like usual. It was the afternoon and there were residents of the city and trainers all around. I stood in awe at the sight of the diversity pokemon. Some were natives to the Johto region while others were foreign to me. There was quite a scene in front of me. I saw a blonde girl playing tug-of-war with an adult man wearing all grey. They were fighting for a poke ball and after a few moments, the guy snatched it from her. He ran away from her, going in my direction and she tried going after him but tripped.

"Hey you!" she pleaded, meeting my eyes. "Please stop him! He took my Vulpix!"

This was my chance to be a hero! Maybe I could use this to prove to my parents that I could take care of myself and become a trainer. I was getting closer to him, I needed a way to get him to stop running. Once I was close enough to him, I sprang from my two feet and jumped on top of him. An innocent bystander was next to us and got toppled over just like the man in grey. We were all groaning in pain, scratches and bruises were all over my body but I tried to ignore the feeling. Arabella was pecking the man with all her might as we were on the ground but he smacked her away. While untangling myself from them, I tried looking for the poke ball. The red and white capsule was rolling away from us! My body scrambled towards it, but the man's hand caught my ankle and I fell back to the ground. Struggling to break free from the grasp, I kicked him multiple times but he wouldn't give up. Crawling to it was my only option now. Using all the power I got, I tried to crawl towards it with the man trying to pull me back.

"Let go of me!" I shrieked.

"You're not getting that poke ball!" he screamed and pulled me even harder.

Arabella swooped towards the poke ball and grabbed it with her beak. I cheered for her, thankful that she helped me. The man and I got up, glaring at each other while the bystander was still on the ground in pain.

"Spearow, come out and take that poke ball from that Swablu!" the man ordered and released the said pokemon. "Team Soar cannot be defeated! We will shake the world with our power!"

"Team Sore? Like sore muscles? What type of name is that?"

"How dare you mock me? It's Team _Soar_!" he roared. "Spearow, come out!"

The Spearow charged towards Arabella. She blasted off to the sky, trying to outfly him. Unfortunately, he was much faster than her and he caught up and slapped her back down with his wing. She was now falling back to the ground, fast. Arabella tried to gain air again but the opponent's pokemon prevented her from doing so by using Fury Attack. She dodged side to side at some of the jabs he gave but she wasn't able to dodge all of them since she had the poke ball still in her beak. Arabella was getting closer to ground each second. She's going to get flattened!

"Use Growl and turn him to make him closer to the ground!" I commanded. I was panicking a lot now.

Arabella growled at the Spearow, causing him to be less weary. She then flipped them over with Spearow now in the role of crashing to the ground first and then slapped him with her wings, causing him to crash to the ground. Debris was everywhere and it was hard to see what was happening next.

"Arabella, use Feather Dance and blend in with it!" I ordered, still shielding my eyes from all the debris.

My Swablu was pissed that her wings got dirtied from all the dirt everywhere. She released a huge mass of down and buried the Spearow, and everyone else too, under it. White feathers were everywhere and she blended in perfectly. We all struggled to get out of the feathery pile. Once I got out, I saw that he exploded out of the pile even angrier than usual and was now looking for Arabella. She was hiding but managed to sneakily peck him multiple times.

"How are you not winning this? Hurry up and flap your wings!" the man barked.

The opponent's pokemon flapped it's wings hard, causing all the feathers to clear away giving away Arabella's spot. When all of the feathers were cleared, Spearow charged at her again using another Fury poke ball fell from her mouth and started rolling out on the ground again. I tried reaching for the ball as I ran for it but someone beat me to it. It was the bystander who got toppled over that was holding it. He was a teenager like me. I smiled gratefully at him and then I looked back at the fight. Arabella was getting pummeled to the ground by the Spearow! I shouted multiple orders but she couldn't get out of there!

"Arabella!" I shrieked and bolted towards the fight. I tried grabbing Arabella but the Spearow was pecking me too, cuts was everywhere on my limbs. I flinched in pain then shoved the damn bird away, grabbing my Swablu and cradling her in my arms.

"Trainers aren't supposed to be butting in battles. That's illegal." the man mockingly said.

"That wasn't a battle! Your damn pokemon was torturing mine!" I snapped back.

Tears welled up in my eyes as I looked at Arabella in her pitiful state. I returned her back to her poke ball. This was my first battle and I basically lost. People were crowding around us, they might have been watching the whole time. They all saw me lose to this guy. I thought the good people always defeated the bad in stories. Why didn't it work for me?

Officer Jenny then ran in with her Arcanine right behind her. Her pokemon lunges at the man toppling him over. She handcuffed him and placed her leg on top of him to prevent him from moving.

"Wow, this is the second Team Soar member that was trying to steal a pokemon this week." she remarked and pressed her foot harder against his back. She then glanced back at me and the teenage boy I accidentally tackled. "Thank you guys for stopping him and getting the poke ball back. I like your sense of justice."

She then pulled the man in grey away from the crowd and probably back to the Violet City Police Station. The crowd lingered on for a bit but then cleared away since nothing else was happening. It was just me, the boy, and the girl who had her pokemon stolen left.

"Thank you so much!" she exclaimed, hugging me. "I was so scared on what would happen to my Vulpix! I can't believe you even tackled him down! And thank you for helping as well, boy!"

"It's no problem! I couldn't just stand there and watch that crime just happen!" I humbly said.

"You really are a hero!" she praised, which boosted my self esteem. "Here, have some money as a reward. Anyway, I need to get going. Again, thank you so much!"

She left and waved goodbye to us. Now it was just me and the boy. He was brushing all the dirt on him, occasionally wincing in pain if he touched a bruise. I shifted the weight between my legs uncomfortably, feeling guilty for getting him hurt.

"I'm really, really sorry for tackling you down!" I apologized. "I should have checked my surrounding beforehand."

"Huh? It's cool really! You needed to catch that guy. You would have wasted time worrying about your surrounding instead of tackling the guy right away." the boy said.

After taking a better look at him, I noticed that he stood a few inches taller than my height of 5'5''. He had tousled golden brown hair, honey colored eyes, and slightly tanned skin. He wore the uniform of Earl's Pokemon Academy which consisted of a green collared shirt and khaki pants.

I shook his hand and introduced myself, "The name is Reese. I'm going to be the Champion of Johto."

"That's a really ambitious dream of yours." he chuckled. "I'm Cole and I want to be the Champion as well."

"Hate to say this, Cole, but there could only be _one_ Champion."

"And that's me." we both said in unison in such confidence.

I glared at him while he just laughed. I rolled my eyes at how at ease he was. He looked back at his watch and his eyes bulged out of it's sockets, startled out of his mind.

He started to run away but shouted to me, "Sorry! I'm running late to work! Anyway, it was nice meeting you, Reese!"

"Bye?" I said in a confused tone. The boy was already gone with the wind.

After looking at the time myself, I realized school has been over for half an hour already! My dad was picking me up today and he's probably been waiting there for a long time. I checked my phone and I had thirty missed calls from my father! He's going to be furious when he sees me! I bolted towards the school, having no time to waste. I was going to be in deep trouble. This would probably be the last time I could go outside in public. Once I arrived there, my dad was waiting in the front and he looked stressed, checking to see his phone every two seconds.

"Uh… Hi Dad!" I called, trying to be as casual as possible.

He caught the sight of me, breathed out in relief, "I was so worried where you were! Why didn't you come out of school though? I know the reason. You _ditched_ school! And look at yourself, you're all covered up in scratches! What happened? Actually, no you don't have to tell me. You tackled a man and got into a pokemon fight. I saw it with my very own eyes."

"I'm really so-"

"No, 'sorry' isn't going to cut it." he snapped. "We're going home now."

The ride back to Cherrygrove City was not fun. It was dead silent and all that was heard was the wind blowing in my ears and Pidgeot's wings flapping. My father was going to tell my mom right away what happened and I know what's going to become of me: dead meat. My whole life would be over. I'll never see the world again after this.

It was dinner time and that was when my dad told my mother what happened. She didn't looked pleased at all. Next thing I knew, my parents started screaming at me. I was shrinking down in my seat at every word they spat at me. I wish I could shrink far enough down that I could disappear from them.

"I can't believe you would do such a thing!"  
"You missed class and got into a fight?"

"A Joy would never do something like this!"

"That's it, you're grounded for a month!"

My patience was running thin now. Instead of being scared, I started to get even more irritated. My parents started giving me a huge lecture about it. They even started saying that they would take away Arabella from me! That caused me to blow up.

"We might as well take your pokemon away since that made you even more rebellious than before."

"You could do anything you want to me but you _can't_ take Arabella away from me!" I shouted, getting up from my seat and heading straight to my room.

My mother screamed as I was going back to my room, "Why can't you be like your cousins?"

I released Arabella from her poke ball and she was still damaged from the battle. I felt horrible for making her stay in this state but I just couldn't tell my parents how injured she got. They would be even more pissed off than they are right now. My knowledge on taking care of pokemon finally came to use and I got a potion from the first aid kit and sprayed her. Within seconds, she was rejuvenated and got back to her feet again.

I embraced her tightly. "I'm really sorry for not healing you until now. I have some news to break to you, the dream of ours to win the Pokemon League is now down the drain."

She frowned and nudged her head against me which probably meant, "I'm so sorry."

I lied down on my bed looking at the ceiling with Arabella next to me. My eyes started to droop and I drifted to sleep. Sadly, I got dreams of winning the Pokemon League and celebrating with my parents.

* * *

I was miserable the whole month I was grounded. Everything I had was taken away from me like my TV, poke gear, and laptop. I did chores on the daily instead of our housekeeper doing them. She didn't mind at all, it was like vacation for her. The only thing I did during the weekdays was go to school and go back home. That was the only time I could get out. Now that month is over, my stuff was finally given back to me. I was on my laptop, happy that it's with me again and then I heard a knock on my door. My parents were standing by the doorway, asking if they could come in. They came in anyway despite me not giving an answer and they sat at the foot of my bed.

"We've been thinking about something this whole month." my father began. "We were thinking about you becoming a trainer."

My eyes bulges out of their sockets and my jaw dropped to the floor. The word "trainer" was already surprising to hear from their mouths but the phrase "you becoming a trainer" was even more shocking!

"You've had enough punishment this past month and so we decided to let you do something that you've really wanted for the longest time." my mom said with a warm smile on her face.

My face glowed in happiness. This is what I've been waiting for for the longest time! Today was the day that I could get my parents' approval. Running away was never an option for me because I would lose their trust even more, waiting for it was definitely worth it. I inched closer to them, eager to hear those very words.

"You're already fifteen, five years older than the legal age to become a trainer. You showed us how rebellious you are but that was because you are passionate for that dream you have. We both feel guilty for trying to force you into becoming a nurse. You should be able to live the way you want. That was something your mother and I wished for when we were younger too." my father said.

"Being a Joy doesn't mean you shouldn't go do other things. That was something I was thinking wrong this whole time. You can go live your dream and take on the Pokemon League Challenge. Show the world that you're more than a daughter of a nurse." my mom encouraged me.

I screamed in delight and started jumping up and down my bed. I hugged both of my parents and kissing them on their cheeks. Arabella heard the news as well and was singing happily and dancing around.

"Thank you so much! You don't know how long I've been waiting for this day! I won't let you down. I _will_ become Champion!" I exclaimed, filled with determination.

Becoming a trainer was a long process especially if you wanted to to take on the Pokemon League Challenge. It's basically another title for taking on all eight gyms and the Pokemon League. There was stacks of paperwork to fill out. Then, my mom had to make a phone call to Professor Elm so I could get a pokedex and my trainer card. I was a little disappointed that I couldn't get one of the starters like Cyndaquil, Chikorita, or Totodile. They were rare pokemon that is hard to get in the wild. Because of this, numerous people request to get a starter but only three people are picked through randomizing. Those who get those starters were extremely lucky.

Buying supplies for my journey was a chore too. I got way too many stuff for my own good. My parents bought me different types of poke balls, assortments of healing items, vitamins, and all that jazz. I bet the person at the cash register was awestruck at the sight of our shopping cart filled with items up to the ceiling!

It was hard to sleep that night. While Arabella was nestled next to me snoring soundly, my eyes were wide open and I still felt jittery. I had so many fantasies on what would happen. I would save the day multiple times and be everyone's hero. I'd get on the news and everyone would fall in love with me and take pictures and what not. Even the gym leaders would love me and I'd get gym badges without even battling because I'm that lovable. In the end, I had a whopping three hours of sleep that night.

* * *

It was finally the day I get to go on my journey, a day I never knew would come. This was my time to accomplish my dream of being a hero and the Champion of Johto. I could live my hero's tale and be my own main character. This was my chance to make my name known like Red and Gold.

Quickly jumping out of bed, I fixed myself for this very important day. Arabella was just as excited and sang happy, cheerful music as I was getting ready. I dressed into a pastel pink oversized tee, black shorts, a black hat with a pink poke ball design, and black and white running shoes. My black backpack was packed with all the supplies I bought and I strapped it onto me. After eating a hearty meal and brushing my teeth, it was time to say goodbye to my family.

"Don't forget to brush your teeth everyday! Please answer your pokegear every time we call you! Always make sure to take a shower whenever you have the chance! Oh and please travel someone whenever you go out!" my mom nagged.  
"Please don't get in any trouble. That evil organization is out there. Reese, I know you always want to play hero but you should always be careful like that one day you messed with that Team Soar guy. You don't know how powerful they are, you shouldn't mess with that group. Leave the job to defeating them to the Champion of Johto or the police. Remember, curiosity killed the cat!" my dad warned.

I rolled my eyes at this. I could never miss a good chance to save the day! Plus, those Team Soar guys need to be stopped. I could be the one to stop them!

"Make the Joy family proud! Show everyone what you got!" my mom cheered.

I chuckled at their words and hugged them for the very last time for awhile. Both of my parents were tearing up as I walked out the door. While I was happy that I'm on a journey now, tears still ran down my cheek. After all, going on a journey meant growing up.

My tale starts now and a long journey awaits me.

* * *

 **WOW I REDID THIS CHAPTER. You don't understand how many versions I have of this chapter. If you read the first version, well bless your soul. It was pure crap. This one is much better. I even changed her name because it'd be easier to read and I think the name "Briar" was just too weird. It's my favorite name but I'll save it for a different name.**

 **For clarification, this story takes place 1 year after HGSS. Team Rocket is now gone, Gold is the Champion, blah blah blah. Later on, you'll figure out what else has changed in just a year.**

 **Anyway, thank you for reading and I hope you all have a great day! Please follow and favorite! Please review this story and tell me how I should improve with it.**

 _ **Character Profile**_

 _ **Reese: The daughter of Nurse Joy and a scientist that works at Heart Enterprise. She loves to daydream and wishes to be the Champion and experience a hero's tale. She hates going to Joy's Academy and never pays attention in class. She is a confident and determined girl that will do anything to have her way. She doesn't realize it but she is a bit of a spoiled brat from her parents being rich. She has dark brown shoulder length hair, chocolate brown eyes, and tanned skin. Her trainer clothes consist of a pink oversized tee, black shorts, black hat with a pink poke ball design on it, and black and white running shoes.**_


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